Through the door crack wafted the pungent scent of intimate union between a man and a woman.
Along with unspeakable moans.
With a loud “bang,” he kicked the door open!
Lin Jingrui felt as if a burning coal were lodged in his chest, his entire body turning ice-cold.
Staggering a few steps, he nearly collapsed.
Inside, the bed curtains fluttered wildly, revealing the entangled figures of a man and a woman.
Lin Jingrui’s cold, handsome eyes turned completely red.
He yanked the man up, slammed him against the wall, gripped the back of his neck, and viciously smashed his head into the bedpost!
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” After a few strikes, the man couldn’t take it anymore.
“Third Brother, it’s me… I’m your eldest brother!” the man cried out, covering his head.
Lin Jingrui’s movements abruptly halted.
Reason slowly returned.
He turned, picked up the oil lamp, and held it close for a better look…
Under the lamplight, it was unmistakably the pockmarked face of his eldest brother, Lin Jingfan!
Lin Jingrui’s pupils contracted sharply, nearly dropping the lamp.
Immediately, his cold, fierce gaze shifted abruptly to the corner of the bed.
“Chu Nianci, you truly disgust me?” His voice was terrifyingly dark.
Holding the flickering oil lamp, he reached to pull back the quilt.
The figure huddled under the covers trembled violently.
“Don’t…” The woman beneath the quilt suddenly pleaded in a tearful whisper.
She tightly wrapped the quilt around her head.
That voice… it wasn’t right.
It wasn’t Chu Nianci’s clear, cool tone. Instead, it sounded like… Shunqing?
Lin Jingrui stood frozen in place, stunned.
His chaotic mind felt as if doused with a bucket of ice water…
Just then, a clamor of footsteps and laughter suddenly sounded from the doorway.
“Let’s go see Nianci. The bride is shy, Jingjue, don’t tease your sister-in-law,” Madam Xie’s playful voice came from the entrance.
A young girl laughed and said, “I know, Mother.”
As she walked, Madam Xie sighed, “Ladies, our family’s situation is unique—marrying two daughters-in-law at once. I’m afraid we’ve become a laughingstock.”
“This is a blessing others couldn’t even hope for.”
“Who doesn’t know your two daughters-in-law—one a wealthy merchant, the other a renowned physician?”
“Madam Xie, you’re just showing off!”
Waves of laughter echoed from the corridor.
Lin Jingrui’s star-like eyes darkened, a sense of foreboding washing over him.
He tried to turn and close the door, but it was already too late.
“No… don’t come in,” Lin Jingrui’s words were cut short.
A crowd surged through the doorway—his mother, his sister, and other relatives and friends.
Everyone took in the scene inside the room, utterly stunned.
The noble ladies and gentlemen exchanged meaningful glances.
“You shameless woman, look at what you’ve done! You have no sense of decency!” A rough, cold shout exploded at the doorway.
Lin Jingrui stiffened and turned around.
There stood his father, the Earl of Chengen, and his mother, Madam Xie, outside the door, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.
The Earl, Lin Beicheng, was in his forties—a robust military man dressed in dark casual attire, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
Madam Xie, elegant and dignified in a fox-fur-trimmed jacket, wore an expression as gloomy as still water.
Behind them stood their youngest daughter, Lin Jingjue, and their fourth son, Lin Jingxing, both looking utterly bewildered.
Madam Xie had originally intended to use this situation to pressure Chu Nianci into handing over her dowry. She never expected the scandal to be witnessed firsthand by her own son.
Her mind racing, Madam Xie instantly made a decision. She clutched her forehead, feigning dizziness, and pretended to cough violently.
“Mother!” Lin Jingrui and Lin Jingjue hurried forward to support her.
“My lord, please calm your anger…” Madam Xie pretended to plead.
“You still want to cover for her?” The Earl was furious. “The Lin family cannot keep such a shameless daughter-in-law. Send her to the country estate immediately, and never allow her to return to the manor.”
“Father is right. Our family cannot keep someone so disgraceful, who brings shame upon our name.” Lin Jingxing also shouted toward the bed.
“Someone like her should be paraded through the streets on a wooden donkey for all to see,” Lin Jingjue said with arrogant malice.
Behind the crowd.
Chu Nianci watched this family calmly.
Their words were exactly the same as in her past life.
And Lin Jingrui, just as in her past life, stood there coldly, saying nothing.
His eyes were distant and filled with disgust, as if she were something filthy.
He allowed Lin Jingjue to spew venom, spreading rumors throughout the capital that she had been defiled.
A mocking smile curled at the corner of Chu Nianci’s lips.
Their marital bond had come to an end.
This time, she would no longer hesitate or second-guess herself.
Nor would she allow herself to be trapped in a dilemma.
Madam Xie, however, glanced at Lin Jingfan and ordered the servants, “What are you waiting for? Drag that disgraceful thing out of here. Don’t let her dirty this place!”
Two guards dragged away the limp Lin Jingfan.
Only then did Madam Xie approach the bed, sighing as she spoke with feigned helplessness, “Nianci, if you have even a shred of remorse, return all your dowry. Perhaps I can still preserve some dignity for you and persuade Jingrui to allow you to remain as a concubine.”
A cold, fleeting smile crossed Chu Nianci’s lips.
Even after a lifetime, her mother-in-law’s greedy face remained unchanged.
Publicly forcing her to hand over her dowry.
Seeing the woman on the bed trembling and silent.
Madam Xie signaled the matron to act. The matron grabbed the woman’s arm and began dragging her forcefully from the bed.
“No… don’t!” The woman clung desperately to the bedpost, her voice distorted with fear.
“You have no choice!” Madam Xie declared.
But something suddenly felt off. Chu Nianci’s skin was fair and flawless, yet the exposed half of this woman’s calf seemed to be flesh-colored…
At that moment, the woman could no longer resist the two burly matrons. She let out a piercing scream as the bedsheet slipped aside, revealing a face smeared with rouge and tear stains.
Her features bore some resemblance to Chu Nianci, but the broken, wide eyes and sharp, thin chin…
A closer look would reveal the difference…
“Sister-in-law, why is it you…?” Lin Jingjue exclaimed in shock.
“Where is Third Sister-in-Law?”
“Who is looking for me? What is this performance all about?” A voice as clear and cool as spring water sounded from the doorway.
Everyone turned in horror.
There stood Chu Nianci, perfectly composed by the door, her dress neat and tidy.
Her expression held just the right amount of surprise and confusion.
Madam Xie was thunderstruck, her eyes wide as she stared at Chu Nianci, then snapped her head back toward the bed.
The two did look somewhat alike.
But Chu Shunqing’s features were delicate and fragile, like fine porcelain.
Chu Nianci, on the other hand, had a more composed and intelligent gaze, with an additional red mole near her eye, and an underlying resilience in her bearing.
The room fell into dead silence.
Impossible!
Madam Xie’s nails dug into her flesh.
She had personally added the drug to the rose dew and was certain that Chu Nianci had unsuspectingly consumed it during dinner.
How could this wretched woman still be standing here, perfectly fine?
She stared at Chu Nianci as if seeing a ghost, disbelief written all over her face.
Lin Jingrui looked at Chu Nianci, then at the disheveled Chu Shunqing.
All color drained from his face.
He couldn’t utter a single word.
He stood dumbfounded in the middle of the crowd.
Yet his expression was unlike anyone else’s.
His face, as cold and proud as a lone crane, was filled with astonishment, awkwardness, and an indescribable expression of shock.
Chu Nianci’s gaze was calm.
So calm it was chilling.
She walked step by step to the front of the crowd, meeting everyone’s eyes.
Calmly and unhurriedly, she replied, “I was feeling a bit unwell earlier and went out for some fresh air. I just returned to see so many people gathered here. What happened?”
The crowd began to whisper softly.
“So it was Physician Chu on the bed—how shameless!”
“I heard she followed the heir south herself.”
“It looks like she’s trying to steal her sister’s husband!”
“Maybe her mother-in-law put her up to it—she just mentioned the dowry.”
That last remark.
Made Madam Xie’s expression shift several times, her gentle demeanor suddenly turning dark.
She could no longer maintain her composure, pointing at Chu Nianci with heartache and indignation: “Nianci, Shunqing is your own sister and the rightful wife Jingrui married on behalf of his brother.”
“How could you be so intolerant of her, scheming such a vicious plot to harm her? Do you think your mother-in-law is weak and the Lin family can be bullied?”
Lin Jingrui watched Chu Nianci with a cold frown, his handsome brows deeply furrowed: “Nianci, why would you do this?”
Chu Shunqing gazed at her with despair, on the verge of tears: “Sister, we are flesh and blood. How could you bear to harm me like this?”
Chu Nianci did not look at her.
She walked slowly to the table, lifted the pot of rose dew with her fingertips, and gently shook it against the light.
“Sister, look clearly,” she said coldly, then smiled, “this rose dew was sent by Mother-in-law.”
She turned back to Madam Xie.
“Aunt, you can deny it, but if so, let’s invite that ‘groom’ from earlier back to confront you face-to-face!”
Madam Xie stared fixedly at Chu Nianci’s face, radiant as fine jade.
The last trace of color drained from her own face.
She knew full well the gravity of the matter.
That groom was her own son, Lin Jingfan, who had secretly returned from the border.
It was only through her connections at the Ministry of War that she had managed to spare his life.
How could she dare expose this in front of everyone?